Go with me back to Philippians
3. Philippians 3. I have something
laid on my heart tonight that normally I would see this as
being a Bible study. and I believe you'll see why
I say that. This is the message for the evening. I strongly believe that this
is the message for tonight, and I pray the Lord will bless it.
I want to begin by reading a few scriptures to you. Right here
in Philippians 3, verse 13 says, Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended. But this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore,
as many as be perfect, be thus minded. And if in anything you
be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Paul said, I reach. I press. For what? Those things which are before. The mark of the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I reach. I press. I reach. I press. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
9. 1 Corinthians 9 verse 24 says, Know ye not that they which run
in a race run all, everybody's running, but one receiveth the
prize. There's only one winner. He went on to say, so run that
you may obtain And every man that striveth for
the mastery is temperate in all things. If you want to be the
best at something, you are disciplined in it. If you want to be the
best at something, if you're striving for the mastery of something,
you're disciplined in it, you're committed to it, you're devout in it, devoted He went on to say in verse 25,
now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly. He said, I'm not on a random
leisure jog through town. I'm on a set course running a
race. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly,
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. He said, I'm not shadow
boxing. I'm not practicing. I'm in the
middle of a fight. He said, when I get to the end
of this, I want to be able to say, I fought a good fight. But verse 27, I keep under my
body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when
I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. I think
about. I have thought this many times
before and I still do think about this right here. I wonder if
the Lord is going to let me stay true to the gospel and true to
the message of Jesus Christ crucified the rest of my days on this earth. And I'm not joking right now. I'm not joking right now, not
at all. I wonder, I have thought this, thought about this, I think
about how old I am and how much longer I have to go. You don't really retire from
this. You don't put in 20 years and retire. You keep going until
you just fall out on the floor. I've got a long way to go, unless
the Lord takes me. Unless the Lord takes me. But I do wonder if the Lord is
going to allow me to stay true to the gospel, true to the message
of Jesus Christ crucified. I do wonder if God's people,
I wonder if I will be considered by God's people to be a preacher
of truth for the rest of my preaching days. And some of you have been around
a while understand what I'm talking about. I wonder if God is going to keep
me right here, right here, right here, and right here for the
rest of my days, or is he going to allow me to veer away? Will he let me come to a point
where I veer away like he has with so many men before me? I
think about men right now who I have zero confidence in, that
when I was a child, they were one of us. They were one of us. Men who have gotten tired of
the simple message of the finished work of Christ and have moved
on to other issues. Other issues. I can't keep myself. If God doesn't
keep me, I'm not going to be kept. I don't have any control
over this. I didn't bring me to the place
I am today. God brought me here. And God
brought all of you here. And not only do I wonder if I'm
going to be standing here the rest of my days, I wonder if
you're going to be sitting there. I really do. Worse than this thought of wondering
if God is going to keep me staying right on the one thing needful,
the one path, the one, worse than that thought there, the
thought goes through my mind, if the Lord did allow me to stray
like that, would it be proven in the end that I was not a child
of God at all? Would it be proven in the end
that I was not a child of God at all? Claimed to be. put on a front to be, thought of myself to be, but
in the end it was proven I was not. That's the case for men and women
all over this world. That's the case for men and women
all over this town. Look right here at chapter 10,
1 Corinthians 10 verse 1. It says, moreover, brethren,
I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers
were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. The Lord
brought them out of Egypt, brought them into the wilderness. That
Red Sea opened up. How many people went across that
Red Sea? And that cloud, that pillar protected
them. Verse two, they were all baptized
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And did all eat the
same spiritual meat that God provided. And did all drink the
same spiritual drink. For they drank up that spiritual
rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ and
they drank from it. Verse five, but with many of
them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the
wilderness. Now these things were our examples
to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also
lusted. Neither be ye idolaters as were
some of them. As it is written, the people
sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. They were playing
games. They were playing games. Verse eight, neither let us commit
fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day, three and
20,000. Neither let us tempt Christ as
some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. Neither
murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of
the destroyer. Now all these things happened
unto them for examples. And they are written for our
admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. Now watch
verse 12. Wherefore let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed lest he fall. What he's saying is don't assume. And that's what I'm saying to
myself. And that's what I'm saying to
every person here. Don't assume. Don't assume. I want that to just be
embedded in our brains when we walk out of here. Don't assume. What was the message on last
night? Don't assume. Cry. Seek. Beg. Knock. Look. Gabe, are you saying that we
can't have any rest and peace in Christ? No, I'm not saying
that at all. God's people can have all rest
and all peace in Christ. They just don't assume on it.
They don't assume on it. They don't assume that they have
rest and peace in Christ. They constantly need to know
in certain certainty. They constantly beg for it. We're
constantly begging for it. God's people constantly sue for
it. You've heard that phrase, sue
for mercy. Think about taking somebody to
court. I have to have what's mine. I need to sue for it. I need
to plead for it. God's people find their only
hope in it. They cast their all on it. But
the one thing they don't do is assume. The one thing they don't
do is assume. They don't assume on it. That's
what men and women in false religion do. That's what men and women
in false religion do. Even if they're sitting under
the truth in the false religion of their own mind, worshiping
the idol of self, and good works of, you know,
a person can do that sitting right in the pew of a true gospel
church. Men and women in false religion
never question their standing before God, never, never. Therefore, they never feel the
need to beg, please don't let me go, please don't let me go. Men and women in their false
religion never doubt. They never doubt. And therefore
they never plead. They never plead. They never
in desperation cast their all. You know what I'm talking about,
you who have done it. Lord, I cast my all on you. I'm just, I'm so worthless, and
I'm so helpless, and I'm so miserable, and I'm so wrong, I just throw
myself on you. I just throw it all on you. I
mean, you're gonna have to do with me whatever you do with
me, and I'm begging for mercy. Men and women in false religion
spend all their time assuming. Don't assume, don't assume. Verse 12 says, wherefore let
him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Now I've asked you this. We've
thought about this many times. I'm gonna ask it again, okay?
We're gonna ponder it again. Let me just ask a few questions
here. Is God sovereign or not? We spend all this time talking
about God's sovereignty and we name our church Kingsport Sovereign
Grace Church. Is God sovereign or not? Did he order all things or not? Was there a particular people
chosen and given to Christ or not? You know, we're talking about
falling away, veering off. Are we being kept by the power
of God or not? Did Christ shed His blood and
pay the sin debt of His people in full and satisfy every demand
of God concerning them or not? Did Christ redeem His people
or not? Did He get them or not? Is it finished or not? Is salvation finished? All the
souls, finished or not? Will God's Spirit through the
preaching of the Word, and that's a key to the whole thing, through
the preaching of the Word, will He go out and get all those people
or not? Are God's people eternally secure
or not? Are we eternally secure or not?
Here's the answer. Yes. Yes. God is sovereign. He chose a people. He ordered
everything concerning those people. Christ finished the work of saving
those people to the uttermost. God's spirit will quicken and
call every single one of those people. Not one will be lost. Not one will be lost. Every soul
ordained to glory is going to make it. All right, then let's ask this
question. What are we worried about then? What are you so torn
up about then, Gabe? What's so urgent? Why is Paul reaching, impressing,
why? If it's all set in stone, what
are we begging for? What are we seeking? What are
we searching? What are we hoping in? What are
we pleading for? If Christ has already opened
the way into glory for His people, if Christ said, I'm the door
and I've already opened the way for you into glory, what are
we knocking for? It's because that is the heart
that God has put. That is the heart that God said
he would place in all of his people that he has done this
for. He said, you seek me. And he said, you'll find me.
Well, hold on. I thought we didn't seek him.
I thought he sought us. That's right. That's exactly
right. He does all the seeking. He does
all the finding. But to every soul that he sought
and found, he says to the heart of that soul, search for me. Seek my face. Isn't that what
he said to David? Seek my face. In response to
that, the child of God cries, I need to find my Lord. I need to find my Lord. Where is my beloved? Has anybody
seen my beloved? I can't be without him. I cannot
be without him. I can't live in this world. I
especially can't leave this world without him. Go back to Philippians 3 with
me. This is the heart that God puts
in all of his people, all right? Verse 13 says, brethren, I count
not myself to have apprehended. He said, I do not consider myself
as having attained it yet. I know and I believe in my heart
that He has attained me. I know that. I believe that. But I still have a deep desire
in me that I need to attain Him. David said in Psalm 17, I'm not
satisfied. I'm not satisfied. He said, I
will not be satisfied until I awake with thy likeness. I will not
be satisfied. Are we satisfied with Christ?
Yes. Are we satisfied with his gospel? Yes. Are we satisfied
with his finished salvation? Yes. I'm not satisfied with me. I'm not satisfied with all this
sinfulness I still see in my flesh. I won't be satisfied until
I'm standing there physically with Him, looking just like Him. That's the moment that I will
apprehend that which I am apprehended of. David said in Psalm 27, one thing
have I desired that will I seek after. Brethren, let's become
seekers. Let's become seekers. That will I seek after that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord to behold his beauty, to
hear his voice. I must seek after that. I need to seek after that. Christ
is my finish line. And until I lay hold on him,
I cannot stop running this race as the scripture calls it. I
can't stop reaching, I can't stop pressing. How does a child of God reach?
How does a child of God press and run and strive? How? This word right here, this word
right here. the very word of Christ himself.
We come to this word. We read this word. We gather around
this word. And we do 99.999% of that right
here in worship. I know you, you're just like
me. You don't wake up and read your
Bible every morning like you should. I know you don't. You're just like me. Aren't we
so sorry? Aren't we just so sorry?
These are the words of life. This is the hardest book to open. The two covers of any other book
open just a piece of cake. So sorry. If we want to press, if we want
to run, if we want to strive and reach, we come to this Word. We gather around this Word, the
Word that leads us. This Word feeds us. This Word
is leading us right now. We're being led right now by
the Spirit and the power of God to Jesus Christ. That's exactly
what's happening. And if this strikes a note with
our heart, we're being fed right now. We preach this word, we hear
this word, we believe this word, we heed this word. This right
here is our reaching and our pressing. We are not satisfied
with yesterday's food, yesterday's gathering, yesterday's anything. I'm not satisfied with yesterday's
reaching, yesterday's pressing. I'm not satisfied with that.
We need it again. We need it right now. We come
together as God's people in the way that he told us to, to press
toward the mark. What are we doing here? I'm half
sick. You can still hear it in my voice.
What am I doing here? Pressing toward the mark. Pressing toward the mark. We need to grow in faith. We
need to grow in grace. We need to grow in knowledge.
How do we do that? By pressing toward the mark. We come here to worship Him.
We come here not to worship me, not to worship my flesh, not
to worship this world, Him. This is our pressing. The gospel
is our pressing. Worship is our pressing. Our
Lord keeps us pressing. Our Lord is the one who is keeping
us pressing. We don't even get the credit
for that. He keeps us pressing. He keeps us running in this race,
not jogging, not walking, not sitting down, taking a break
for a while. He keeps us running to Him through the warning of
His Word. This is how He does it. His Word
is what causes us to say, hold on, wait a minute. Let me get
my mind back on this race. My mind and my heart has veered
off of the race. Let me, as verse eight says right
here, count all things lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of
all things and don't care. because I count them all done,
that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that
I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. if
by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect,
but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also
I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do. forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Verse 15 says, let us therefore,
and this is what I want to say to us, this is what is burdening my heart, okay? Verse
15 says, let us therefore, as many as be perfect, and that
word means mature, spiritually mature. Let us therefore, as
many as be perfect, be thus minded, this way minded. Let us recognize, let's, oh,
let the light bulb come on. Let's recognize our own great
need to be exhorted in this. And let's recognize our need
to exhort each other in this. Let's recognize our need to not
be complacent in this and not assume on this. Let's exhort
one another daily while it is still called today. When I start to grow weary in
these things, and if you think I don't, you're wrong, I do. And when I start to grow weary
in these things, you need to say to me, come on now, keep
running, keep looking, keep pressing,
we're almost there. And when you start to grow weary
in these things, I need to say to you, come on now, keep running, keep looking, keep pressing,
We're almost there. That is the encouragement. That
is the exhortation. That is the keeping power of
God. That is the keeping power of God. That's the keeping, continuing,
renewing strength that God will give to his people all the way
to the finish line. He'll keep reminding. He'll keep
saying. That's how the Father will draw
us. That's the draw of the Father. That way right there. That word
will speak to the heart. Come on now. Keep coming. All
the way to the finish line. If we belong to him, he will
keep us running this race with patience. That's Hebrews 12,
verse one or two. I love that. Run, run, run, run
with patience. He will keep us running this
race with patience, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ, the author
and finisher of our faith, knowing that for the joy that was set
before him, he endured the cross and despised the shame, and he
is right now seated on the throne of God Almighty. Let's all run
to him. Reach, press to him. Let us, verse 15 says, let us
therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded. And if in anything
you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Lord, if we don't see this, reveal
it to us now. Give me a heart to press right
now. Give me a heart to press right now. that price sell.